The City Series championship dates for each winter sport are set.
Joe Howard, Akron Public Schools program manager for interscholastic athletics, reported these days and times for the five title events:
• The boys and girls bowling tournament is 10 a.m. Tuesday at Midway Lanes, 1070 E. Tallmadge Ave., Akron.
• Firestone and Kenmore have clinched spots in the girls basketball final and will meet at 7 p.m. Thursday at North High School.
• Kenmore will host the wrestling championship meet at 10 a.m. Saturday.
• East and Firestone have clinched spots in the boys basketball final and will meet at 7 p.m. Feb. 17 at Firestone High School. East is ranked No. 10 in the Associated Press Division II state poll. The two teams meet at 7 p.m. Friday at East to conclude their league regular season schedules.
Copley signings
Copley seniors Nick Pupino and Sasha Haverchak have signed national letters of intent to continue their academic and athletic careers in college.
Pupino is set to run men’s cross country and compete in track and field for Ohio State University and Haverchak is committed to play women’s soccer for Ohio University as a midfielder/forward.
Wadsworth signings
Wadsworth seniors Grace Campbell, Anna Anderson and Rachel Jones each signed to continue their academic and athletic careers in college.
Campbell is committed to play women’s soccer as a defender for Ohio, Anderson is set to play softball for Walsh and Jones will play volleyball for Palm Beach Atlantic University.
Medina signings
Five Medina senior girls soccer players have made decisions on their college futures.
The five are Jen Jankowski (Cleveland State), Ali Kovarik (Ashland), Beth Lang (Ashland), Kelsey Nemeth (Point Park (Pa.) and Michaella Stucky (Walsh).
More college signings
• Ohio University also received signatures from two other local soccer players: Cloverleaf senior forward Heather Buckwald and Buckeye senior forward-defender Emily Giesen.
• Revere senior Amy Feher signed with Illinois to play soccer.
• Nordonia senior Sara Andrasik signed with Grand Valley State to play softball.
• Brunswick senior Brianna Neitzel signed with Ohio State University to compete in track and field.
• Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy senior Sachem Wilson signed with Liberty University to play men’s soccer.
Baseball honors
Crestwood senior third baseman/right-handed pitcher David Brock and Walsh Jesuit left-handed pitcher Michael Marsinek were on the Louisville Slugger high school preseason All-American list as honorable mentions. Six Ohioans made the national list.
OHSAA considers options
Members of the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s Competitive Balance Committee met at the OHSAA office this past week in Columbus.
OHSAA Commissioner Daniel B. Ross said the group decided it will continue to study the competitive balance issue, which came to the OHSAA’s attention a few years ago when a group of school administrators expressed concern over the high number of state championships being won by nonpublic schools, even though they make up 17 percent of the association’s membership.
The Competitive Balance Committee first met in January 2010. The discussion last week included the possibility of reassessing the referendum issue that was narrowly defeated by the membership last spring, whereby schools would be placed into tournament divisions based on a sport-by-sport athletic count that included a school boundary factor, a socioeconomic factor and a tradition factor.
The committee also discussed a recent letter that was sent to the OHSAA Board of Directors from a member school superintendent who asked the board to place a referendum on the upcoming ballot to separate OHSAA tournaments between public and nonpublic schools.
“We had some very healthy, open dialogue, and I believe everyone on the committee felt as though we had a chance to review all of the issues and concerns that have come up since last spring’s referendum voting, the August survey that was conducted with over 300 member school principals and recent meetings of both a competitive balance subcommittee and a committee to study the enrollment disparity that exists in Division I,” Ross said. “We even addressed how some legislative issues that have been raised could impact Ohio’s schools.”
Ross said an update will be provided to the OHSAA Board of Directors during the Feb. 15 board work session and the competitive balance committee hopes to reconvene later this month to determine the direction to take next.
“It is possible a referendum issue dealing with competitive balance could be placed on the ballot for the May voting by the membership, but at this point, it’s premature to speculate what, if any, proposal the Board of Directors may approve,” Ross said.
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the high school blog at www.ohiomm.com/blogs/varsity_letters/. Also follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MBeavenABJ. Follow ABJ sports on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sports.abj.
